Let ‘em go Barefoot

Ep. 14 Supporting Our Teens with Karla Marie Williams

Karla Marie Williams is an author, a speaker, and global advocate of children and families. In this episode, we discuss her transition to homeschooling, then unschooling, with her six children and focus on the ideas and insights she shares in her book, Teens Unleashed. 

Some things we discussed:

• PUP- Periodic Unschooling Panic
• What parents can do to support their kids
• Reframing math, reading, and writing as “life skills”
• Addressing the question, "Do some kids need more structure?"
• The 5 Pillars of learning
• “Doing nothing” (hint: it all counts!)
• Setting goals, retooling, reassessing, and processing
• Finding mentors
• Be aware of how you value your children’s interests

And so much more!

Follow along on Karla's adventures on Instagram @simplykarlamarie Facebook, YouTube, and her website www.karlamariewilliams.com

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 13 The Right Side of Normal with Cindy Gaddis (Part 2)

Cindy Gaddis is back with even more amazing insights about right-brained dominant people. (You can find our first conversation in Episode 12 where she gives her backstory and lays the foundation for her research and the book she wrote, The Right Side of Normal: Understanding and Honoring the Natural Learning Path for Right-Brained Children.)

In this almost two-hour long powerhouse episode, we cover a lot more ground and dig deeper into her work covering topics such as:

• the importance of finding mentors
• the three-year learning cycle/stages
• power of observation
• the collaborative learning process,
• the 60/30/10 principle,
• challenging the standard school model’s scope and sequence for formal learning,
• looking at dyslexia and autism through a right-brained dominant lens,
• living with a right-brain dominant person (sensitivity and emotions),
• and we even tap into how brain dominance impacts our adult relationships! (Could she save your marriage?)

Throughout our conversation, Cindy provides a ton of examples so I’m positive you will see yourself, your spouse, and/or your children in many of the things she discusses. This episode is bound to help you understand each other better and hopefully will inspire you to offer grace to your loved ones when they don’t do things quite like you. Maybe people are not being inconsiderate or uncaring, maybe it’s simply that their brain processes information differently than yours!

Links for Cindy’s work:

The Right Side of Normal: Understanding and Honoring the Natural Learning Path for Right-Brained Children

https://amzn.to/3QGwBsA

Cindy’s unschooling “process”:

https://www.therightsideofnormal.com/resources/handouts/collaborative-learning-resources/learning-stages-summary/

Chart for the Natural Learning Development for Right-Brained Children:

https://www.therightsideofnormal.com/2012/04/16/the-natural-learning-development-for-right-brained-children/

Post for Dyslexia:

https://www.therightsideofnormal.com/2013/06/12/dyslexia-or-right-brained-dominant/

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 12 The Right Side of Normal with Cindy Gaddis (Part 1)

Cindy Gaddis is a homeschooling mom to seven and the author of the book, The Right Side of Normal: Understanding and Honoring the Natural Learning Path for Right-Brained Children.  

In this episode, Cindy and I go over multiple topics covered in her book including:

• how she defines right-brained and left-brained,
• what the research says,
• the presenting characteristics of right-brained and left-brained learners,
• how the school environment favors left-brained learners,
• how to support our creative children whether we homeschool or not
• the three distinct stages of learning 
• labels like learning disabled and ADHD

and so much more! 

You can find more of Cindy's work here: https://www.therightsideofnormal.com/ 

as well as links to her book, including an e-book download option. Be on the lookout for another episode, a Part 2, with Cindy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ep. 11 The Science of Children’s Memory

Dr. Lynne Baker-Ward, Professor Psychology, has been on the faculty of the Department of Psychology at NC State University since 1985. She was also one of MY professors when I attended N.C. State in the early 90s. 

Much of her work has examined the age-related cognitive changes that affect children’s capacities to provide testimony in legal proceedings, and the ways in which alternative approaches to the management of child witnesses affect the accuracy and completeness of young children’s reports of their experiences. 

Read more of her bio here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/people/lbward/

In this episode we discuss her research into children's memory, active learning, how we become responsible for our own learning,  how we can support our children’s reporting of events, ways to approach our children when we are seeking to understand, and the variation in recall based on a child’s age and so much more.

Other things discussed:

"Counting our Wins" Dr. Rick Hanson

https://www.rickhanson.net/

Negativity Bias

https://www.rickhanson.net/overcoming-negativity-bias/

Dr. Keith Conners and the MTA Study of ADHD

https://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j2253

 

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 10 That Mountain Life with Erich Leidums

On this 10th episode of the Let 'em go Barefoot podcast, I interview Erich Leidums, a dad of three, an outdoor enthusiast, and the creator of the highly entertaining and fun-loving family adventure channel, That Mountain Life.

Erich's approach to parenting and education are born from a space of trust and believing things will work out. It is both a peaceful and powerful lens to view the world.

We talk about his early life experiences, how he and and his family got to this point in their lives, what it's like to be a full-time digital creator now, and so much more. 

He offers rich insight and great advice for adding more risk into your children's lives, which builds their confidence, all while having a blast together.

Look for That Mountain Life on YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ThatMountainLife

@thatmountainlife

https://www.tiktok.com/@thatmountainlife

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

 

Ep. 9 You Might Be Scared...Do It Anyway with Sue Patterson

Sue Patterson likely needs no introduction because she has been involved in the homeschooling and unschooling community for over 2 decades.

With three grown children and one grandchild, she sits in that wonderful space of reflection and can offer us her unique perspective and insight. Sue is candid about the fears she had about homeschooling, including worrying about what other people would think.

I so enjoyed talking to Sue and taking in her wisdom and humor. I have a feeling you will, too.

Where to find Sue and the various things we talked about:

Unschooling Mom2Mom website: Http://www.UnschoolingMom2Mom.com

Sue’s Membership Group - Creating Confidence

Http://www.UnschoolingMom2Mom.com/membership

Homeschooled Teens: 75 Young People Speak about Their Lives Without School

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Homeschooled-Teens-People-Without-School/dp/0986229040

Digital:

https://www.books2read.com/homeschooledteens

Unschooling Guide: Technology 

https://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/product/technology/

Social Media, all things Unschooling Mom2Mom: http://www.facebook.com/UnschoolingMom2Mom

http://www.Instagram.com/UnschoolingMom2Mom 

http://www.Pinterest.com/umom2mom

http://www.YouTube.com/c/UnschoolingMom2Mom

Stay connected with Sue through her email list filled with unschooling resources:

https://unschooling-mom2mom.ck.page/posts

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 8 Making Mindfulness Fun

Putting together these episodes is an activity that truly brings me joy and for the next hour, I believe you will feel joy as you listen to my guest, Isabelle Robledo talk about her life experiences and her passion for helping others get to know themselves.

When Isabelle reached out to me about coming on the show, I did not think twice.

I follow her on Instagram @makingmindfulnessfun and love the content she shares…plus it is wonderful to watch how self-directed education plays out in the later teen years.  

Isabelle beams with enthusiasm for life and excitement for the work she does. It is impossible not to be positively affected by her and swept up in her orbit.

We talk about what mindfulness is, what it is not, and how it can benefit us.

We dig into Enneagrams and how to use them to support and guide us on our journey.

If you’re like me and enjoy getting into the nitty gritty of our personalities and exploring what makes us tick, you will love this chat.

Find more Isabelle here:

Website

www.makingmindfulnessfun.com

Free Enneagram Cheatsheets

https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/a5d9i5

Coaching with Isabelle

https://www.makingmindfulnessfun.com/product/coaching-isabelle/

Free Birth Chart Workbook

https://www.makingmindfulnessfun.com/product/birth-chart-workbook/

YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCuDNkut8LBd7B3EMICzyMgw

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 7 Conscious Parenting with Erica Kesilman

Have you thought about where your ideas and beliefs about parenting come from?

Have you considered that the relationships we have with others is primarily a nervous system experience?

In this conversation, I talk to Erica who is a conscious parenting coach. She explains the road she takes to get here, including the anxiety and reactivity that were part of parenting her first born. I imagine many of us can relate to the nervousness and worry that comes with parenting our first child. And while we do not want it to be that way, we get stuck in patterns and unconscious behaviors.

Erica’s "aha" moment came when she found Dr. Shefali’s work on conscious parenting and heard her say, “Parenting is not about raising our children, its about raising ourselves.”

Ultimately, that is the goal of Erica’s work…to help parents connect to their own stories and then build relationships with their children through healing, trust, and harmony.

Where to find Erica:

https://www.ericakesilman.com/coaching-program

Instagram: @erica_kesilman and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericakesilman

 

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 6 Deschooling Dinnertime

According to Deena, a Holistic and Integrative Health Coach, we all have a food story.  

However, many of us have not brought this story forward.

We may not even realize why we have certain attitudes about food or

how particular beliefs around health and eating have influenced us.

In this episode, Deena and I discuss many ideas and beliefs around food including personal stories that have impacted our relationship with nutrition and food over the years

But also, how we can bring peace, joy, and beauty into our homes and meals

While minimizing struggle and challenges.

 

Find more great tips, guides, and support from Deena here: http://deenabarselah.com/

and over on Instagram @deenabarselah

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.

Ep. 5 Wild and Free

I am thrilled to have Nicolette of Mamas Roots are Showing on the podcast again. You were first introduced to her in the second episode, “When Did you Know”.

Today, however, we cover A LOT more ground.

Growing up as a 4^th generation farming family, being close to the land is 2^nd nature to Nicolette, so naturally, we talk about farming and gardening, our own connections to nature, and raising children outdoors.

We also talk about creating community, what it means to be a peaceful parent, the importance of addressing our own triggers and childhood wounds so we can be more mindful in how we interact with our kids, plus so much more.

You can find Nicolette's blog here:  Mama's Roots are Showing (mamasrootsareshowing.com

Her podcast is on Apple or Spotify 

and on Instagram @ mamas.roots.are.showing

Find more of Missy's writings and offerings @letemgobarefoot and www.letemgobarefoot.com.  You can purchase our ebook, Life Unschooled: A Guide to Living and Learning Without School.